Page 75 of Martyr

Briant made a pained sound and tried to fight back, even getting in one or two decent punches, but he really was out of shape and it showed. He faltered too easily, gave Yejun too many openings. It wasn’t long before his face was bloody and he was lying on his back in the grass with the violent Demon straddling him.

“He’s my cousin!” Nix yelled at the top of his lungs, not sure he could get through to Yejun otherwise. He felt Lake’s hold finally loosen at least, and he pulled away and was kneeling at Briant’s side in an instant, shoving Yejun off of him and dragging him a few feet away, as if that would provide a safe distance.

Briant coughed and hacked, his left eye already starting to swell shut. His nose was definitely broken, and his lips were split in at least three places. He clung to Nix’s arms, allowing him to cradle him protectively.

When they’d been kids, it’d been the other way around. Briant had always shown up when he or Branwen had needed anolder brother figure to step in. He’d always seemed larger than life. Unbreakable.

A stricken sound slipped out of Nix before he could help it. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“Phoenix,” it was clearly a struggle just to get that one word out.

Nix looked to Lake. “We have to get him to a doctor!”

Lake was busy staring at Yejun though, and Yejun…

Yejun’s gaze was fixed on Nix as though he’d never seen him before. As if they were strangers.

A rush of fear trailed down his spine and Nix instinctively clutched Briant closer.

“Tell me you’re lying, Firebird,” Yejun’s voice didn’t change back from that scary one.

Sensing he’d accidentally made things worse, Nix once again turned to Lake for help, but it was obvious he wasn’t going to get any.

“He’s,” Yejun pointed at Briant, “your cousin?”

Nix couldn’t answer. This wasn’t the person he’d come to know this past month.

“Iris’s brother is your cousin?” Yejun snapped finally.

No…

“How do you…” Nix winced when Yejun let out a string of curses.

“The two of them were her fucking phone background! I recognize his face! What the fuck is going on right now? Are you—” Yejun was stopped by Lake the same way he’d held Nix back only a few minutes ago. One look at his best friends face and he put the pieces together. “You knew.”

Lake didn’t get a chance to respond.

Yejun pulled back and decked him.

“You fucking knew and you didn’t tell me!” Yejun went to hit him again, but this time Lake caught his fist.

“Let me explain,” he said coolly, as though they were talking about something as innocent as cheating on a math test.

“Nix!” Juri came running from across the quad then, probably having spotted them or heard the yelling.

When Nix twisted in that direction, it was to find that his friend wasn’t the only one. The Roost was a bit more separated from the rest of campus than any other building, so the small crowd was a distance from them and probably couldn’t overhear what was said verbatim, but they’d caught their attention and were being watched.

Juri came to Nix’s side. “What’s happening?”

“Take him,” Nix quickly transferred his cousin to the other guy’s lap. “Please. Get him to a hospital.” He was too afraid to take even a single step away from the Demons himself, but Briant couldn’t wait any longer. He needed immediate medical attention.

Heneededto be far, far away from Yejun Sang.

Juri frowned down at the stranger in his arms.

“He’s my older cousin,” Nix explained, tone hushed in a poor attempt not to set Yejun off again. “Please.”

“I’ll keep him safe,” Juri promised. “But…” His eyes wandered past Nix’s shoulder at the others. “What about you?”

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